2026-27 season preview: Aston Villa

What will success look like for Aston Villa this season?

Consistency. The last time Villa appeared in the Champions League was in 2024-25, and while it did well there (it made it to the quarterfinals before being eliminated by PSG) it struggled to keep up its domestic form in tandem. That failure to perform in the Premier League kept Villa from getting back into the Champions League in 2025-26, and while the club made the most of that disappointment by winning the lesser Europa League outright, it won't exactly be eager to repeat the feat.

Success for Villa in 2026-27 won't be easy, but it will be sweet: a top four Premier League finish and a Champions League run to the quarterfinals or beyond.

Which players have arrived?

Villa kicked off its 2026-27 season by signing Argentinian attacker Alejandro Garnacho from Chelsea, and on paper, he seems like a questionable addition: he's had multiple run-ins with coaches in the past and has built up a reputation as a bit of a diva. Emery is likely to have his hands full with him.

Its next signing, though, looked a little sharper. The club brought in Swiss attacker Johan Manzambi from Freiburg—the team it beat in the Europa League final last May—to finesse its forward line. Manzambi is young, hungry and coming off a stellar World Cup, and he is a fascinating signing.

Which players have departed?

Oh man, almost all of them—and that makes Villa's goal of consistency a very, very difficult one to achieve.

Villa kicked things off by selling English attacker Morgan Rogers to Chelsea in a move that made its Garnacho signing look even more curious. Rogers has been far more consistent than Garnacho in the Premier League and it feels like Chelsea came out ahead on that one. It then sent Belgian midfielder Youri Tielemans to Manchester United and French left back Lucas Digne to PSG.

The Tielemans transfer is the scary one. With him gone—and key midfielders Boubacar Kamara and Amadou Onana out with long-term injuries—Villa will be heavily reliant on Scottish midfielder John McGinn in the opening phase of its season. McGinn is a club legend, but he is not going to be able to manage Villa's ball progression all on his own.

Villa also lost an interesting backroom figure: set piece coach Austin MacPhee. He's one of the most respected set piece coaches in the world and his controversial move to Chelsea reportedly caught Villa off-guard this summer.

Which players might come or go in the next few weeks?

Much of the talk surrounds Portuguese midfielder Joao Palhinha, who appears to be ready to leave Bayern Munich for the right opportunity. Palhinha is a solid defensive midfielder and exactly the kind of player Villa needs to back up McGinn, but he won't come easy: other Premier League clubs like Newcastle are bidding for him too.

Aston Villa will kick off its season on Aug. 12 with its UEFA Super Cup match against defending Champions League winner PSG. It will open its domestic season on Aug. 23 against Brighton.